TITLE: Romanticide Chapter One?

AUTHOR: Juliet3:16

EMAIL: R

CONTENT: VIOLENCE, ADULT LANGUAGE, POSSIBLE NON - CON, MENTAL TORMENT

CATEGORY: ADULT, DRAMA, ANGST, HORROR, To anti - Kliq fans: This is a Kliq heavy fic.

SPOILERS: Through New Years Revolution 2005. Then things take a right turn at the end of the Elimination Chamber match

SUMMARY: Somebody's revenge goes too far.

DISCLAIMER: I won none of the characters in the story. They belong to either the McMahons or the Jarretts.

DISTRIBUTION: WWOMB, anybody else please ask.

Romanticide

Chapter One

Surprise visits and visitors

Two weeks after New Years Revolution,

Royal Rumble, Fresno California

Shawn Michaels sat in lonely silence as he taped up his wrists for his Royal Rumble title match. Maybe it was guilt that made him challenge Orton for the RAW title, but he could not help himself. Ever since he won the title at New Year's Revolution, Orton's attitude had been arrogant, bordering on sadistically obnoxious as if pinning a dying man for a vacant title was the most natural thing in the world.

Shawn clenched his eyes shut, trying to block out the events of two weeks prior, that the mere thought of Orton seemed to unleash. Try as he might, Shawn could not escape the images of what had happened in the Elimination Chamber. Of Hunter suddenly collapsing for no-good reason; Orton laying atop of him, refusing to get off Hunter unless Shawn counted him down. Shawn counted the three, doing what he felt he had to do to get Hunter the help he needed, making Orton Champion an unfortunate consequence. He would never forget as long as he lived Hunter seemingly dying before his eyes, as EMTs pronounced him dead at the scene.

Shawn shook his head at the knock on his lockerroom door, tearing his mind away from the memories that continued to haunt him.

"Yeah?" Shawn's scratchy voice called out.

"Somebody's here to visit you Mr. Michaels," a young production assistant called out.

"Send 'em in," Shawn responded, wondering who it could be. He knew Nash and Hall would not be allowed in a WWF arena for separate reasons. Besides they would be meeting him in San Antonio after he left the RAW taping the next day.

When the door next swung open, Shawn looked up and saw his former tag partner and one of his oldest friends, Marty Jannetty.

The two men embraced briefly, Marty could feel the tension in Shawn's body and knew not all of it was in anticipation of his match with Orton.

"How you holding up?" Marty asked.

"'Bout as well as could be expected," Shawn answered, his eyes downcast.

"Seriously, Shawn, tell me the truth?" Marty pressed.

Shawn looked up at his friend briefly, and in one quick glance, Marty could see the toll the last few weeks had taken on his friend.

"In a word? Hell," Shawn said simply sitting back down on the bench.

"Yeah, I can," Marty started, then paused.

"No, actually, I don't think I could know what your going through," he finished quietly.

"Thanks for the honesty," Shawn said morosely.

"There's nothing you could have done, from what I've heard," Marty said.

"Was there?" Shawn asked, "I keep wondering. I keep thinking of a thousand scenarios since it happened, numerous ways to maybe change the outcome. Fast counting Hunter; ending the match earlier than it had; pulling that punch Orton off Hunter. Anything ANYTHING, but what really happened."

"You wanna know what the worst part about that night was? Seeing Hunter's eyes as he was dying. Seeing the fear in them, even as they were dimming. Damn it Marty! He didn't know what was happening to him any more than the rest of us did! He gasped out my name like it was his only lifeline. Then in an instant, the light went out of his eyes, and they closed. What's worse? The very worst part of it all? Randy Orton prancing around the ring, as if there weren't people working on Hunter. Celebrating as if there wasn't a man dying before everybody's eyes in that chamber!"

Marty stood there for a moment, taking in all his friend had said. Finally sitting next to Shawn on the bench and leaning against the wall of lockers in the room, he asked the question that had been on a lot of people's minds for the last couple of weeks:

"So are you wrestling Randy for the belt because you think he's an unfeeling punk, or because you feel guilty over what happened to Hunter?"

Shawn rubbed weary hands to an equally weary face, which Marty noticed had become terribly drawn since the last time Marty had seen his friend.

"Maybe both," Shawn admitted softly, looking at a corner of the floor.

A knock on the door pierced the silence between the two men.

"Come in," Shawn called out.

The door opened again and this time Chris Benoit stepped through it. He stopped short when he saw Jannetty also in the room.

"Didn't know you already had company," the Canadian said.

"Seems like I'm a popular man tonight," Shawn said, but without the trademark wit that usually accompanied it. "What can I do for you tonight Chris?"

"Just came by to wish you luck," Benoit explained, "and to tell you to kick that little punk's ass."

Shawn managed a small smile.

"I'll tell you right now, if for some reason I don't win tonight, then you, Ric, or Jericho, have to win the Rumble for RAW. Somebody needs to get that title off Orton and if it's not me, then it has to be somebody who's not buying his crap."

"So Ric's not buying the act either?" Chris asked.

"Not for a minute," Shawn replied thinking back on how Randy was acting like he had been truly sorry Hunter had died and how he only pinned Hunter for the stability of RAW and t get Hunter help as fast as possible. Yeah and Shawn was going to wrestle The Rock someday. It was obvious to Shawn that Randy realized his actions in the Elimination Chamber were not going over well with anybody and that Orton was trying to salvage what few allies he could. It was also obvious that most were seeing through it.

"Pretty much told Orton to quote: 'sell it to somebody like Bischoff and not somebody who actually cared about Helmsley!' Damn near clapped then and there," Shawn added recounting the encounter between Orton and the Nature Boy last week at RAW.

Benoit seemed to mull the information Shawn had divulged. His youngest had been sick that week, so he had not been able to make it to RAW.

"I gotta go do something," Benoit finally said, "good luck with Orton tonight."

"Thanks," Shawn called out as Benoit left his lockerroom. He knew where Benoit was probably going. He turned back to Marty who had a contemplative expression on his face.

"Shawn, what happens after tonight?" Marty asked, "Whatever the outcome of this match, where are you going from here?"

Shawn was quiet for a moment, as if considering his old friend's question. When he finally looked Marty in the eyes, there was grim determination in Shawn's.

"I'll mourn Hunter," he answered, "but before I move on, I'm going to find out what killed him. If it was something natural, then I'll let it go. But if it was something else, if somebody had their hand in this, then I'll find out who it was and what they did to him."

"And that person will pay."

Slightly vengeful Michaels at the end huh? More soon.